**My 3rd paper for class. This prompt was a freewrite**
Tale of Two Brothers
by: Carole Rae
“Mama...why do you look so
sad?” I ask Mama, who is curled in the corner away from my brother
and me. Like normal, my brother was in his own world chewing on the
brown chew sticks, without even noticing that our mama's eyes were
filled with such sorrow. I cuddle closer up against her soft ebony
fur to try and soothe her. Was she thinking about the past again?
Her black eyes refuse to
look at me, “The time to say goodbye is upon us my son.”
Panic seeps into my voice,
“What do you mean?”
With a heavy sigh, she
replies, “This happens every time when my little ones grow up into
little chinchas. Mama Jacy finds them another home. Sadly, it is the
way our people now, my son.”
Tears begin to flow and I
stammer, “But I don't want to leave you! I love you! What about
brother? I do not want to leave him either!” I cuddle closer to
her.
“Perhaps you two will go
together, son. You may not remember this for you two had just been
born, but a couple of humans came here. Mama Jacy had the couple hold
you two. They seemed nice. They handled you two with such ease and
with such joy. I did not even worry they were going to drop you.
Perhaps it is them that will take you two home.” She sounds
hopeful, but still sad.
“Does brother know this?”
I ask, still sobbing.
“Yes, but you know him.
He is always positive and ready for adventure.” We both look at
brother. He is still chewing away and bouncing all around the cage
with such ease and not a care in the world. Annoying. His fur is like
Mama's and Father's, black as night. Which is unlike mine that is
speckled with black, gray, and white. Mama Jacy still finds it odd
how different I look, but according to Mama, her father looked the
same way. Anytime Mama mentioned her old life, the saddest look
invades her face and she can not help but let a tear fall. She had
been taken away from her mama, father, and brother. She has no idea
what became of any of them.
What if I am torn away
from everyone I love too? Anger
explodes in me, “I will not go! I will not let them take brother
and me! I will not leave you! I will fight!”
Mama's
sad eyes suddenly turn red with fury. She stands up on all fours and
glares down at me, “You WILL go. It is your destiny as a chincha!”
Before
I can respond, Mama Jacy walks in slamming the door behind her. I do
like her. She has a friendly smile and she smells sweet like apples.
She doesn't give us any apples, but I see her eat them and it smells
so delicious and I always grow envious. When she opens our cage door,
I want to lick and nibble her fingers, but she always wants to pick
me up or pet me. It is very irritating! I tell her all the time to
leave me be, but she never listens! Even though she has been nothing
but kind to us, I am still convinced she will eat me or turn me into
a chinchilla coat. The old and wise chinchas that are in the same
room as us, tell of stories of human doing things like this to our
ancestors in the old country of our people. Some say that humans
still do this to us in America as well. I can not help but believe
those rumors! Mama tells me not to listen to those old chinchas for
humans are kind, but she has been spoiled, because Mama Jacy uses her
for making more chinchas.
There
are about twenty chinchas in this huge room of ours. Some are old,
some are young like us. Some are brown like tree bark with speckled
ears, some gray, some white as snow, some black, some with purple
hues, and so many others. There are so many that live on the other
side of the room that I haven't seen or talk to yet. There are so
many it takes Mama Jacy a little while before getting to our cage to
refill our food and water. When Mama Jacy nears our door and smiles
at us, Brother runs over to the silver door and puts his front paws
on it and begs for a treat. I back up to the back of the cage and
glare. I pray she doesn't use that black device of hers to flash at
us again. It's rather rude and it hurts my eyes. With a soft voice,
she says, “Hey cuties. It's time to get your own cage!”
Mama
lays back down. I am rather confused. New cage?
As Mama Jacy begins to open the cage door, Mama whispers, “Good bye
my sons. Do not cry and love your humans with all your hearts.”
I try
to reply, but Mama Jacy grabs a hold of Brother and me and carries us
a way. Brother says his goodbyes. There is some sadness there, but
nothing surpasses my cries and sobs. Mama Jacy tries to comfort us,
but I care not for anything she has to say. Each cage we pass the
chincha that occupies it gives us a pitying look. It seemed like
forever before she stopped at a cage that I assume is for us. It is
more spacious then our old one. There are a few more chew toys too.
However, I shiver as she puts me down. Even though the yellow bedding
is fresh and new, it feels different. It does not have Mama's
comforting scent or the fluffy spots she makes for us when we go to
sleep.
“Wow.
This cage is SO much bigger then the old one and there are so many
more toys here!” Brother exclaims.
I hiss,
“Shut up, Brother. Have you already forgotten Mama?”
Brother
sighs and the sorrow returns for just a moment in his voice, “No,
silly. I have not, but what can we do? Mama told me this was going to
happen sooner or later. We get taken away and put in our own cage to
get ready for the humans that will take us to their cage. It is the
way of our people. Only a select few get to stay with Mama Jacy and
her mate.”
I turn
away from him and face the other side of the cage. This was stupid
and silly. Why can't I just stay with Mama? How long will we have
with each other? Will the humans take both of us like Mama predicts?
Or will we be separated like Mama and her brother? I can not imagine
a world without Brother by my side! I will not allow this to happen!
I will fight these humans if they try to separate us!
~*~
Days
fluttered by with no real change to our situations. Mama Jacy does
let us play with the other young chincha boys once in a while. She
calls that cage the “Chinchilla Male Cage”, which doesn't make
sense to me, but humans have an odd tendency to name things. It is
fun to play with them though, but I missed Mama. However, I had made
a vow to myself never to cry again, because it is a weakness and
Brother needs me to stay strong and watch out for the both of us.
Whenever a human would come, I would hide in the back of the cage and
call for Brother to join me, but he would ignore me, of course. Lucky
for him they have no interest in us. They come and take some other
poor chincha away forever.
~*~
“You
guys are going to your new home today!” Mama Jacy exclaims as she
refills our pellets. Home? That
word must mean death or something equally as horrible. Brother,
without thought to what Mama Jacy has just said, dives into the fresh
pellets. After a couple pets to each of us, she leaves us to our
isolation.
I crawl
up to the pellets and join Brother, “Today is the the day. We must
unite against these invaders.”
“Brother,”
He sighs, “They are not going to turn us into chinchilla coats or
whatever it is you go on about. They are taking us to their cage.”
“Mama
Jacy did not say 'cage', she said 'home'. Do you even know what that
means?”
Brother
thinks about this for a moment, “I don't know...it may be a human
word for cage. It sounds pleasant
though.”
I
snort, “It does not. It sounds terrible. It's probably human for
food dish. However, I doubt they will get much from you for you are
tiny as a mouse.”
“Ha!
They will get two feasts out of you.” He laughs.
“How
dare you!” I then chase him around the cage, the whole time he
laughs and jumps athletically on the side of the cage. He jumps down
on top of me, which makes him laugh harder, because he knows I hate
when he jumps on my back. It soon turns into such great fun I forget
myself and our dangerous situation. Brother always knows how to cheer
me up!
I am
not sure how much time passes when the door slams open. Unfamiliar
voices and scents stop me in my tracks. I gasp, “They are here!”
I run to the back of the cage and watch. When the humans come into
view, I size them up. The boy human is tall with brown fur on his
head and even brown fur on his face. He seems to be very serious and
has a dominate aurora surrounding him; he is defiantly the alpha. His
mate, the girl human, is far shorter with long dark fur. It is not as
dark as Brother's, but close to it. She doesn't have fur on her face
though. It is weird, for not all humans have fur on their faces. She
does though, have brown speckles all over her face, which is a new
trait to my eyes.
The
girl human comes up to our cage and smiles at us, “They have gotten
so big from the last time we seen them!” Was this the couple Mama
told us about all those moons ago?
Mama
Jacy concurs. The humans talk for a few moments and then Mama Jacy
brings out a huge green carrier. She opens the cage door and Brother
runs over to her hands. Idiot!
Mama Jacy picks up and shows him off to the humans. In turn they each
give him a couple pets and then Mama Jacy puts him in the carrier.
No! I spring across
the cage, but before I can kill the humans, Mama Jacy swoops in and
picks me up. The same thing happens, the humans pet me, which I
recoil much to the dismay of the human girl and then I am put down in
the carrier besides Brother. The boy human compliments on how fast I
am. It makes me smile for a moment.
Mama
Jacy replies, “The ebony one is a little more loving as you see.
Make sure to give the other one more time to adjust. If he hisses at
you, just keep petting him. He thinks he's the alpha male.”
The
couple agree and take the carrier away from Mama Jacy. After a few
more words, Mama Jacy says goodbye to us as the couple carries us out
the door. I am frightened and full of sadness to be leaving all we
know behind, but Brother begins to nibble at the hay blocks left in
here. I ask him bitterly, “How can you eat when doom is at hand?”
He
shrugs, “Because the humans seem nice and I am excited to see our
new cage. Lighten up Brother...a whole new adventure is at our feet.”
I
grumble. After a while, my tummy starts rumbling, so I begin nibbling
at the hay block too. What can I do? These humans have captured us
and are taking us to their “home”. I still do not understand what
that word means, but I hope Brother is right and it's a good thing.
They don't smell threatening, so I hope I am wrong. Of course, I will
be watching them like a hawk...just in case.
